Dumping-car.



PATBNTED IAN. l, 1907.

A. C. MGCORD.

DUMPING GAR. Y

Arrmouxou Hum 51111121.1904.

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2 BHEIZTB- HEBT 2.

PATBNTBD JAN. 1, `1907. A. c. MGGORD.

DUMPING CAR.

APPLIUTIOE FILED SEPT. 1.1904.

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UNITED sTATEs ALVIN C. MCOORD, OF

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

DUMFING-CAR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 1, 1907.

Application filed September 1,1904. Seria-l Nn. 222.912.

Bc it known that I, ALVIN C. MCOORD, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chi cago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Dumping-Cars; and I dohereby declare the followin to be a full, clear, and exact description othe invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same.

Mv invention relates to dum ping-cars, and has for its object to providecertain im rovements in the door-closing devices t ereof with a view ofsecuring increased efficiency; and to this end m invention consists ofthe novel devices and, combinations of devices hereinafter described,and defined in the claim.

My invention is illustrated in the accomnying drawines, wherein likenotations refer to like parts throughout the several views.`

In said drawings, Figure 1 is a view in side elevation, showing aportion of a car equipped with my improvement. Fig. 2 is a cross-sectionon the line m2 :1;2 of Fi 1, with one of the doors and the lockingevices in their closed positions and the other door and locking devicesin their open positions, with the door hanging in about the plane itassumes under the action of gravity; and Fig. 3 is a detail on the line:c3 :c3 of Fig. 2, showing the lookin devices for the hand-lever of thecrank-sha t.

The numeral 1 represents the flooring, 2 intermediate sills, and 3 theside sills, of the car-body. To the said side sills are fixed standardsor uprights 4, supporting to rails or girders 5, and constituting theside ames of the car. From the top rails or girders 5 are suspended thedoors 6 by strap-hinges, the u per members of which are marked with t 1enumeral '7 and are fixed to the rails or girders 5 and the lower or longmembers of which are marked with the numeral 8 and are fixed` to thedoor-bodies. The hinge members 8 are shown as projecting below the bodyportions of the doors at the lower ends, these projectin portions beingadapted to abut against the ooring 1 and side sills of the car when thedoor is in Its closed position, aind thereby limit the inward motion ofthe oor.

To the side sills 3 of the car-body below the Hoor-level are fixedbearing-brackets 9, in which are mounted shafts 10, having fixed theretocranks 11, whichlare crooked in the planes of their rotation. As shown,the cranks are curved in theplanes of their rotation; but the crookstherein might be otherwise formed than on a true curve. The essentialthing is that the crooks must be in the plane of the cranks rotation inorder to adapt the cranks to erform the functions intended. Said crank-sIafts l0 are provided at the ends thereof adjacent to the ends of thecar with hand-levers 12, fixed thereto, which hand-levers 12 have upperend portions adapted to enter between the jaws of bifurcatedretaining-clips 13, fixed to the carframe, and to be held in said clipsby keys 14, fitting the enlar ed part of the opening between the jaws dithe cli s, as best shown in in Fig. 3, for locking the and-levers andthe crank-shafts in their door-closin positions, as shown in Figs. 1 and2. Said reys 14 are shown as suspended or, in other Words, chained tothe car-body.

VWith this construction a hi hly-efcient device is secured for closingscar-doors and holding the same in their closed positions a ainst theweight4 of the load in the car and .iich device, nevertheless, does notinterfere with the opening movement of the doors or the discharge of theload.

The crank-shafts 10 must of necessity be below the level of the loweredge of the doors or any projecting parts thereon in order to afford thenecessary clearance for the opening movement of the doors in the dumpingaction. Likewise the cranks must swing out of the path of the doors inthe opening movements of the parts, as the doors Inust swing outwardbeyond the outer ends of the cranks. Under these conditions it becomesquite a problem to secure cranks which will engage with the doors underan operative leverage in the closin action and which will afford astrong brace or holding the doors in a closed position against theweight of the load when the crank-shafts are turned inward to theirlimit. I have solved the problem by providing the crooked cranks 11. Itis obvious that with these crooked cranks the shafts 10 may be below thelower edges of the doors or any projections thereon and that,nevertheless, the cranks 11 will swing out of the path of the doors inthe o enng movements under the limited angu ar movement or rotationpermissible to the shafts, and, further, that in the closing movementthe tips of the cranks will engage with the doors under IOO i joltingaction the an operative leverage and that when all the parts are intheir closed positions the cranks 11 will afford direct and strongbraces between the doors and the shafts 1U. It should be especiallynoted that in virtue of this form of the cranks the strain from the loadis all taken in the plane of the cranks rotation, and hence that thecranks themselves and the shafts 1() are free from any torsional orbuckling strain lengthwise of said shaft. lt should also be noted thatthe cranks l 1 when in their closed position make the line of strainfrom the load come so nearly iii the line of the dead-centers that inthe absence of cranks themselves might be relied upon to hold the doorsin their closed positions. The hand-levers and locks, however, aredesirable to reinforce the cranks and prevent any opening movementthereof under the jars and jolts incidental to the service.

As illustrated, the cranks 11 engage with the downwardly-extended orprojecting parts of the hinge-straps 8; but this is not at allessential. On the contrary, it is simply incidental to the presence anduse of said pro- 'ecting parts of the strap-hinges as stops for imitingthe inward movement of the cardoor. The crooked crank-shaf ts 11 couldbe of such length and curvature as to engage with the body portions ofthe car-doors 1n the closing action, or, in other words, the projectingparts of the strap-hinges might be entirely dispensed with so far as theaction of the crooked cranks 11 is concerned. lower ends of the stra sS, in oni` sense, form depending portions oV the lower edge of the door.

I am aware that shafts with straight cranks and laterallyextcndcd pinshave been proposed and used for closing top-hinged doors of dumping-carsand holding the same in their closed position; but such prior deviceshave been found in practice to be objectionable, because of thetorsional strain 0n the cranks and the shafts from the load in the ear,the tendency being to buckle the cranks and the shafts and to render thesame inoperative, Otherwisestated, this old form of locking device didnot bring the strain in the plane of the cranks rotation, and did notThe cause the cranks to aiIord direct braces be tween the doors and thecrank-shafts when L the parts were xii their closed positions. Moreover,said old forms required projections on the bottoms of' the doors or elsethe notching l out of the lower edge of the doors in order to bring thecrank-pins into operative relation for closing the doors. The crank-arms11, it will be seen, are so curved or bent that their intermediate orbody portions will never engage with the door. Their rounded free ends,however, are so located that they stand outward of the door in allpositions which the door will assume when suspended by gravity. Theserounded free ends of said arms engage only with the outer face of thefree lower edge of the door. Hence when the cranks are moved inwardagainst the door they exort only an inward pressure thereon,tendin toclose the same. These difficulties are aii overcome in my improvementherein disclosed and claimed.

By actual service I have demonstrated the efliciency of this inventionfor the purposes had in view.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Let- {Jers Patent of the UnitedStates, is as folows:

In a dumping-car, the combination with a car-frame and a top-hinged doorsuspended therefrom, of a door-closing crank-shaft located below saiddoor and outward of the doorway, said crank-shaft having at least onecrank-arm that lies in a plane that intersects the axis of saidcrank-shaft at a right angle, and which crank-arm is so crooked that inall lpossible positions its intermediate portion wi clear the lower edgeof the door when the door hangs open under the influence of gravity, andthe free end thereof will engage only with the outer surface of thedepending free ed ge of said door, whereby when said crank-arm is movedagainst the door it will exert only a ressure tending to close thesaine, substantia ly as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ALVIN C. MCCORD.

Witnesses Jas. F. WILLIAMSON, l ROBERT C. MABEY.

